Pet Rat - Sneezes, runny nose, losing balance

[baddelini]

I have a pet rat (part of a duo purchased from petco [really starting to hate these guys])  I'd put him at about 3-4months old.  He's always been a sneezer, but recently when I took him out of his cage I noticed that he didn't make the mad grab to get back into the cage, he seemed to lack energy and had labored breathing, with some red mucus around his nose.  I immediately seperated him from the other rat, and put him in a cage with his own water supply and a healthy fresh fruit/veggie snacks to make sure he was getting all the correct nutrition.

Upon holding him again today, I noticed that he's having trouble keeping his balance and he clings to your hand as well, as if unsure of the ground.  I could literally hold him on his back and he made no attempt to right himself, which is unusual for these two as they hate being on their back.

Unfortunately I seem to live in a town that has 10 vets, none of which take "exotic" pets as you call them, strictly dog/cat or large farm vets, so I'm not sure what to do as I have no way of getting medicine if that's what he needs.

Please help! I'm not sure what to do!

Additional Notes: Their cage is cleaned twice a week, and their food and water changed daily.  Bedding is that grey paper stuff, and they also get an old mismatched sock to play around with about once a week.

[ireneo]

Whew, I've only seen the bloody nose situation in my rats when they get very old. It's hard to say what he has since it may be pneumonia or a fungal infection that would be hard to treat. If his oxygen levels are low, that would certainly make him lethargic and dizzy. Or if it's an infection that's spread to his ears, that would do it too.

I'm disappointed that none of the vets feel comfortable even looking at your rat. At the least, they could listen to his lungs, do a culture of his nose secretions, something to see what's going on. As for medications, I'm sure they have a formulary handy for exotics and can look up the appropriate med and dosage for a rodent. Yes, some meds should not be used on rodents but they can find that information. I hope one of them will be brave enough to give you a hand.

[baddelini]

Well i don't think it's a bloody nose.  I've done a lot of reading over the past couple days on common rat problems, and I've read that their mucus is red, and that's probably what it is.  A friend of mine has anti-biotics given to him for his rat (he lives a hefty 45 miles away, but works in the area) that he said he could give to me if I wanted them, but I'm not to sure about medicating something I can't get diagnosed, I don't want to cause further damage.  

But ya, none of the vets in my area (30 mile drive is closest the provides small animal care, and money for gas is tight) so I'm at a complete loss of what to do.  We used to have a great little pet store here in town but they were driven out of business by Petco which opened next door to them and they provided care for every animal they sold.  Just a bummer.  I don't want him to suffer and be unhappy but i don't have any options.

[ireneo]

I'm not sure which medication your friend has but I can tell you - do not use any of the penicillin type drugs on your rat. Rodents do not handle them well. Yeah, Petco is a big store; we have them here. I do buy my rat food there but that's about it.

Again, back to the medications, it depends what your friend has and how long he's had it sitting around. They do have an expiration date. The proper antibiotics probably won't do much harm but if it's a fungal problem like aspergillosis, they won't help at all.

You could ask at Petco, see if they can recommend a vet that handles rodents. Certainly, whoever provides them with all their pocket pets must have a vet handy.

[baddelini]

The medication is called Metronidazole and was issued in December of 2008, so it's only a few months old.

[ireneo]

I'm certainly familiar Metronidazole; I've used it at work and even had to take it myself recently for bowel infection. However, I don't have a formulary here at home to see how safe or effective it would be in a rodent with a possible respiratory infection and I wouldn't begin to guess at the proper dose without a weight.

It's up to you whether you want to take a chance and use your friend's medication. The safest bet is to see a vet but I understand the office visit would cost more than a new rat. Sad but true.

[baddelini]

Thanks for your responses.  I ended up giving him some of the anti-biotics, and they seemed to work, he was much more active the next day, eating food and being more explorative.

He almost seems too hyper now though.  When he's not curled up in the little cloth bag I gave him, he seems like he's almost tweaked out.  Super rapid movements, frantic sniffing around, and sometime running around in circles in the cage, seemed odd behavior to me, though I'm glad he doesn't look like he's on the brink of death now.

Any ideas on the sudden bursts of energy he seems to be having?

[ireneo]

Check his hyper activity against the timing of the meds dosages. Watch for circling (small circle), head tilt, tremors, anything that looks neurological. If you see those, stop the meds. Again, I'm not sure if Flagyl (the med) is the best choice for your rat and the dose you're giving may be a bit too much based on weight.

[baddelini]

I've bee really careful with the dosing and he hasn't had a single dose since I gave him the first one, he seems most hyper at night, but only when he's out of his cage.  He gets frantic when not in his cage, and I can put him down right outside the door to his cage and it'll take him 5 minutes to figure out how to get in, almost like he was blind, I often don't see him eat nless i take the piece of food and put it in front of his nose, and then he'll just eat eat eat, but he doesn't seem to be able to locate the food dish... he's got all sorts of problems it seems haha, but i love the little guy anyways.